Michigan town said to have first majority Muslim city council in US

The city of Hamtramck, near Detroit, has seen changing demographics: long known as a Polish American enclave, it is now as much as 60% Muslim. A community organizer says it should serve as an example of fair representation

Michigan town said to have first majority Muslim city council in US

The city of Hamtramck, near Detroit, has seen changing demographics: long known as a Polish American enclave, it is now as much as 60% Muslim. A community organizer says it should serve as an example of fair representation

If you ask someone about the city of Hamtramck, they may tell you it’s a Polish enclave of Detroit, a dense hamlet where the pope once visited decades ago.

The gritty, blue collar town is known to have multiple Polish Catholic churches, a bevy of restaurants serving Polish food, and, every year, a celebration called Fat Tuesday that honors the traditional Polish pastry – Paczkis. Hordes of people snake out the doors of local bakeries to purchase the doughnut-like treat.

But this month, voters in Hamtramck elected what is believed to be the first majority Muslim city council in the US.

The vote reflects changing - and remarkably diverse - demographics in the small city of 22,000 that is physically surrounded by Detroit. Estimates suggest as much as 60% of Hamtramck’s population is comprised of Muslims, and the city is said to have over a half-dozen mosques. In comparison, today, roughly 11-12% of the city’s population is Polish, down from as much as 90% in the 1970s, said Ted Radzilowski, president of the the Piast Institute, a national research center for Polish affairs.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Michigan chapter, said: “What I think: it’s a sign that Muslims are more engaged in the political process, not that America has become less Islamophobic ... There have been some demographic realities in Hamtramck, as well as Dearborn, Michigan, which account for Muslims being a higher average number [of members] on city council and school boards.”

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Thanks to a stockpile of inexpensive and reliable housing in the city, over the last few decades, Hamtramck’s streets of neat storefronts and compact two-flats have seen an influx of other groups joining the once Polish Catholic majority: the town is now a center for immigrants from Yemen, Bangladesh, Bosnia, and Ukraine. An estimated 32 languages are spoken in Hamtramck schools. The Arabic population grew by roughly 1,000 residents between 2009 and 2013, according to Radzilowski’s research.

Neighborhood dive bars with beer-and-shot combos are situated near Ukrainian churches, Polish markets, and Bangladeshi restaurants. It’s not unusual to hear church bells ring side by side with Muslim calls to prayer.

And in a place where everyone knows one another, one thing has remained consistent throughout the city’s history: residents have always been a politically active bunch - a not-so-common trait in small towns.

“We have a very diverse community here – which is wonderful,” said Bill Meyer, a musician and longtime community organizer. “That’s why I moved here; it’s why a lot of people moved here.

“And this city has the potential to prove to the rest of the country, to the world, that people of color can run a mixed city like this, and people can be represented fairly.”

Radzilowski recalled how a student from one of his college courses marveled at the ethnic diversity in town during a visit to the Piast Institute:

“He went outside and came back in, and said: ‘I’ve never seen a place like this … where black people, white people, people with Burqas on are just walking along the street, and they don’t seem to be bothering one another.’”

‘It was a regular election’

In the November election, six candidates ran for three open seats, all of which were won by Muslims. Now, four of six councilmembers are Muslim. (Three are Bangladeshi; the other Yemeni.)

When the election was called, Meyer, the former chairman of Hamtramck’s human relations commission, sent a press release to reporters headlined: “Hamtramck makes history with Majority Muslim Council.”

“I have to qualify by saying, ‘I’m assuming’,” Meyer said over a plate of hummus inside a Yemeni restaurant on Joseph Campau avenue. It’s a point he’d stand by “unless someone else steps forward and said: ‘We are.’”

But the newly elected officials were more modest about the achievement.

Saad Almasmari, the top vote-getter in the race, shied away from overemphasizing the demographic shift’s significance, emphasizing instead the significant problems facing the city he aspires to solve.

“It was a regular election, just like any other election,” said Saad Almasmari, the top-vote getter in the race. “People choose whomever they want; they have the full right to choose whomever they want.”

Hamtramck has been forced to deal with issues not unlike what Detroit has endured over time: an anemic tax base, increased financial obligations and a loss of jobs. At its peak, the city had a population well over 50,000 situated within a compact 2.1 square miles; it is now down to 22,000.

Almasmari, a 28-year-old who moved to the city in 2009 and is currently attending Wayne State University, said Hamtramck - which, since 2000, has time again been placed under state receivership - has to attract new business.

“We’re trying to bring more companies and more businesses to the city,” Almasmari said. And as in Detroit, he said, attention needs to be paid to Hamtramck’s school system.

“In my opinion, schools are the future,” he said. “If we support schools … we’re going to have a strong future.”

Councilmember Mohammed Hassan, 48, also downplayed the religious significance of the election, saying he wants to bring more money to the city for basic services.

“I want a strong police department,” Hassan, who was first elected in 2009, said. “The fire department, I have to look for some grant money; if I don’t get it, maybe I have to outsource.”

Despite relative harmony, the election was not without its clashes.

During the campaign, for instance, flyers saying “Get the Muslim out of Hamtramck” appeared around town. And tensions flared last week after a video from an election night party surfaced, showing a community organizer, Ibrahim Algahim, proclaiming: “Today we show the Polish and everybody else that we’re united.”

Residents and some Muslim council candidates objected to the statement. Cathie Lisinki-Gordon, a former councilmember, told a local TV station that she was surprised the organizer - a “very good friend” - would make such a remark.

“I cannot believe that he would ever profile any select group,” Lisinki-Gordon, who lost her re-election bid, said. “Especially when his community has felt ostracized and profiled for many years.”

Meyer, who isn’t Muslim but enthusiastically supported the candidates, said Algahim misspoke in the excitement of the moment.

“Twenty people spoke that evening and 99.9% of what everyone said was positive about working together, and they found this one word this guy said … and blew it out of proportion,” Meyer said.

The remarks should have been directed to anti-Muslim residents of Hamtramck, he said.

To allay any protracted issues that may have popped up, Radzilowski of the Piast Institute called a meeting on Thursday with the Hamtramck city manager, mayor, councilmembers and other administrators.

“We have a history of being a community broker,” Radzilowski said of the institute.

Asked about the response from attendees of Thursday’s meeting, the message was clear, he said: “Hey, we’re citizens of Hamtramck, we’ve all got to work for the common good.”

That feeling transcended to the city’s council-elects.

“It’s not about Muslims, it’s just about who serves the community,” Almasmari said. “I’m not going to put religion into my politics because I believe politics is for everybody.”